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Scare Aboard Space Station As Toxic Gas Leak Alarm Sounds

Giuseppe Macri Tech Editor
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American astronauts aboard the International Space Station were forced to evacuate the U.S. section of the ISS early Wednesday after an alarm was triggered over a possible ammonia leak.

The entire crew have since moved over to the Russian segment of the station while Mission Control investigates the possible leak in the cabin cooling system. NASA and the crew were alerted to the possible leak after water loop and pressure alarms were tripped, though no actual ammonia has been detected.

NASA TV reported shortly after 11 a.m. that the crew is not in any danger, and that the alarm was likely a result of sensor(s) malfunction.

Commander Barry Wilmore and flight engineer Terry Virts are the two U.S. astronauts currently aboard the ISS as part of the Expedition 42 crew along with flight engineers Elena Serova, Alexander Samoukutyaev and Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency.

After being alerted to the possible emergency the crew donned gas masks and isolated themselves in the Russian compartment of the station, where they will remain until Mission Controllers work out a plan of action.

Preparing for an ammonia leak is an often-practiced scenario aboard the ISS according to former Canadian astronaut and ISS commander Chris Hadfield.

“Ammonia is used for cooling through pipes & heat exchangers on the outside of Station,” Hadfield explained. “We train for it & the crew and MCC [mission control center] have responded well.”

Hadfield added that the other two of the “big three” emergencies the crew routinely preps for include “fire/smoke” and “contaminated atmosphere/medical.”

The last time the ISS experienced an ammonia coolant leak was in May 2013 according to NBC.

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